Another Romanian oil company unveils solar plans

Romanian petroleum transport services provider Conpet has announced it will build small-scale solar power plants across five of its facilities in Călăreţi, Poiana Lacului, Cartojani, Bărbăteşti and Băicoi.

The projects are mentioned in the company’s new strategy for the period 2020-2050 and are expected to require a total investment of around 3 million ROL ($680,000). The installations are planned for self-consumption, with surplus power being injected into the grid under net metering rules.

The projects are also aimed at providing the company’s staff with the necessary know-how for the creation of a specific business unit, Conpet explained.

This month, other two Romanian oil companies – Romgaz and OMV Petrom – have separately unveiled plans to makes investments in the solar and renewable energy sector.

Last week, the Romanian government has also re-introduced long-term bilateral Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) after banning them for almost eight years.

This new measure, along with commitment from Romanian big corporations, may revive the interest in the large-scale PV business in the country. Most of the 1.38 GW of solar installed in the country is represented by megawatt-sized PV plants built under the green certificate scheme launched in 2011 and, since this program was shut-down, the country saw almost zero growth in terms of new installations. Over the past four years, new PV additions totaled just 14 MW.